Hostility Towards a Message
At times, we feel like nothing can harm us. That absolutely nothing can stop our message of Christ from reaching others. Then, we meet hostility. We often find ourselves thinking defensively, as if we’re being attacked. A good friend tonight reminded me that Jesus told the disciples, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matthew 24:8-10).
People aren’t hating the messenger, but the message. I know that before I became a Christian, I would turn off from a conversation when I heard the words Christ, God, Jesus, or Church. It wasn’t the people speaking the message, I didn’t know them. I knew that the message they spoke wasn’t something I wanted to invest in. Then, of course, one day, the message wouldn’t let me escape.
Something I pray for daily is for Christ to shine through my life. I want Him to move me out of the way, so that He is known. One thing I’ve done is to start devoting my blog to Him and His message. Most of my readers know what I’ve been through in the last 2 1/2 years. However, I know what Christ has done in the last 1 1/2 weeks. He has reminded me of His grace and His love. Not everyone accepts my change. They consider it a false life. This passage comforts me: “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-6)
Christ is still with us. We may feel that we didn’t get His message out there, or that people are rejecting what we have to say. However, we can take comfort that Christ is bigger than our fears, thoughts, and our own ability to share His message. He works in ways that we’ll never understand. Later in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, it says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
What an amazing thought: God knows what He’s doing in the lives of His people, and His message can’t be sqaushed by human forces!
